SUV driven by woman with cast on foot slams into Pacific Beach church school; no one injured
A woman dropping a child off at a summer program at a Pacific Beach church school early Monday apparently hit the gas pedal instead of the brake and drove her car into the building.
A vehicle crashed into a bathroom at a church in Pacific Beach on July 27 after a driver with a cast on her foot apparently got her foot stuck on the gas pedal, officials said. No one was injured.
The school was evacuated, police said, and a city building engineer was called to determine whether the structure was safe to occupy.
The crash was reported shortly before 8:20 a.m. at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church and School on Felspar Street near Fanuel Street.
The driver was dropping off a child at a summer school program at the church when she mistakenly hit the gas pedal and lost control of her Suburu Ascent, San Diego Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Erik Windsor told OnScene.TV. The SUV slammed through the wall of a women’s restroom at the church.
Video showed the back end of the vehicle sticking out of the smashed restroom.
No one was in the bathroom at the time, and the woman and child remained in the SUV until firefighters arrived. “They quickly extricated her from the vehicle and brought her and her daughter to safety,” Windsor said.
Police Officer Billy Hernandez said it “looks like [the woman] did have a cast on her foot. Her foot got stuck on the gas pedal.” He said the woman provided insurance information to the building’s owners and would not face criminal charges.
It was unclear what activities were occurring at the building at the time of the crash. A website for the church lists summer school camps held daily at the site. Calls to the program were unanswered.
